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If you're into bookmaking, you've probably heard of the name Betfred. From its humble Internet beginnings in 2004, it expanded to become an online casino in 2005 – quickly becoming a force to be reckoned with in the online gaming industry. But who is Betfred – is it an actual person or just some conglomerate name? Here's the deal:
The year is 1967. Brothers Fred and Peter Done decide to open their first UK betting shop. Clearly rejecting the name "betpeter" (for obvious reasons), they settled on the name BetFred. Fast forward to 2006 – Betfred is now firmly entrenched as the world's premier bookmaker. With over 550 shops on famed High Street and over 2,000 loyal employees, Betfred is no passing fancy. In fact, in just a few short years, 'Fred has fast fashioned itself a stalwart of the online casino industry. We think that betting with Fred is money and time well spent.
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One of the keys to Betfred's success is that it runs on a gaming software called Playtech and offers something for everyone – a bit of the old and new, including traditional table games and the most modern betting machines. Maybe you haven't heard of Playtech – it isn't very well known in the online casino industry – but that doesn't mean it's any less powerful. We like it because it offers customers maximum flexiblity with no download, instant play versions as well as full download versions of all the games. We also give a big "thumbs up" to the Instant Play casino for offering the flexibility to be compatible with a full spectrum of software platforms. Even though players can only use the Windows platform to access the download casino, it redeems itself by offering a plethora of experience-enhancing options: rich graphics, multi-player card games and the option to have a live dealer for Sic Bo, Roulette, Blackjack and Baccarat. We think an online casino should be as close to the real deal as possible; that's why we love the "live dealer" option – and we're sure you will, too! A word to Blackjack enthusiasts – Betfred offers good variations of Blackjack (including Surrender). Poker lovers aren't so lucky, with their choices being more limited.
Betfred offers players a good selection of games that you can also take for a spin in the free "play for fun" option. However, when it comes to site design and navigation, we've got issues, people. We like the fact that Fred welcomes players on the homepage. However, as a whole, the website's cheap look and feel left us cold (we wanted to ask why the showgirl on the banner looks so surprised, but we thought better of it!). We wondered why, with Betfred's stature in online gaming, site navigation was not up to par. If players can't understand options on the site, how can they be expected to play (and spend money)? One particular example is the download casino's availability its advantages over the "Instant Play" option – we couldn't quite figure this one out. We were also surprised to find that upon clicking on the rather visible "Play Now" signs, we were greeted by a 404 page error (meaning, page not found) – a big Internet no-no. While we're sure that was simply an oversight, we'd be remiss not to mention such basic quality control issues. Some other points that let us down on the Betfred site included Currency Confusion – 16 currencies offered with no option to customize the website content by region; and a dubious lack of direction – 2 of the most popular games, European Roulette and Surrender Blackjack were not included in the "Game Rules" section. Now, we readily admit that experienced online casino gamers might not see these issues as a problem, but Internet casino newbies might not find Betfred's site so easy to deal with and run off to another site.
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On the positive side, we're pleased to report that Betfred has very generous bonus payouts to the most loyal followers – er, players. We happily noted that Betfred offers 10% cashback on monthly losses over £50 – usually this is only a VIP, very high roller benefit – and it very rarely rises to double digits. Betfred fancies itself as the "Bonus King" (though we think "Bonus Pince" is more appropriate!). Another nice touch to the site is that Fred (or some random employee - though we will still happily accept the cash!) strolls into the casino every now and then bestowing bonuses on customers like a king on his subjects (albeit a generous one!).
click here to play at Betfred Casino now |
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